3. Signsyou’rewatchinga
TimBurtonMovie
Article written by Ashley Krause May 1, 2014
The Movie H und
Alice from Alice in
Wonderland courtesy
of parentpreviews.com
Sparky from
Frankenweenie
courtesy of comicbook.com
Jack Skellington from
Nightmare Before
Christmas courtesy of
Kingdom Hearts wikia
Welcome boys and girls of all ages to the wonderful,
yet dark, mind of the one and only Tim Burton. His
mind, more importantly the movies and characters
that have come from it, are famous for it’s creepy
and dark nature. Burton fueled by his originality and
dark demeanour have created some pretty amazing
movies. In fact, his movies have prompted a new
genre to be created called Burtonesque, which is
any person/place/thing that resembles the style
his films use. Please join me as I go deeper into his
mind and tell you what you are most likely to see in
a Burton movie.
Flashbacks
These flashbacks are an occurring event in Burton
movies and are used to help explain a character’s
past. For instance, in Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory, he uses this technique to help explain Willy
Wonka’s troubled past with his father and how he
came to be a chocolatier.
Same Cast
Mr. Burton is also quite the fan of using the same
actors over and over again. This can be seen in
almost every single movie with Johnny Depp and
Helena Bonham Carter. These two can often be
seen as the love interest of one another like in
Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, and Dark Shadows.
No one knows the truth as to why he likes to cast
the same actors but most people can agree that it’s
either due to friendship or great charisma on the
actors’ part.
Creepiness
Almost anyone who has seen a movie of Burton’s will
definitely agree that they are creepy. Take his film Edward
Scissorhands for instance, the main character has scissors
for hands and the dark castle on top of the hill just scream
creepy. Or what about his versions of the Batman mov-
ies? Those most definitely have a creep factor to them. I
mean have you seen Penguin in Batman Returns? What
a total downright creepy character! Who would ever think
of something like this except for the master of it all Mr.
Burton himself.
Dark and Bright Colors
Darkness and bold shadows are another specialty found
in almost all of his movies. Used to create a suspenseful,
dark, or dreary mood he skillfully uses this to his advan-
tage. Seen quite often in many of his movies like 9, Night-
mare Before Christmas, and Dark Shadows. On the other
hand he is also quite the fan of using bright colors in his
movies like Alice in Wonderland and Corpse Bride. In fact,
in Corpse Bride he actually uses dark colors to represent
the land of the living and bright, cheery colors to represent
the land of the dead. By doing this he shows how dreary
and boring the living can be and then how much fun the
dead are.
Gothic Architecture
The architecture in most of his films can be deemed as
gothic as well as the tone of the whole movie. Gothic in
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4. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Tim Burton out together courtesy of aforanything.com
Emily from Corpse Bride courtesy of
littlegothichorrors.blogspot.com
nature, his films show the dark side of life without
holding anything back. The buildings in many films,
like Sweeny Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet
Street and Edward Scissorhands, are in a style
seen back in the seventeenth-eighteenth century.
Characterised by it’s pointed arches, large win-
dows, towers, spires, and pinnacles this gothic
style has influenced many of Burton’s movies.
Deep Hidden Meanings
Burton’s movies are also very deep and usually
have a meaning hidden amongst the complexi-
ty of the plot. In Edward Scissorhands it could
be interpreted as Edward (the main character)
having a disability (his scissor hands) and how
he overcomes this disability and is a part of the
community at first (cutting hair and bushes). There
are quite a few deep meanings in his claymation
film Corpse Bride, for example there is the color
difference between life (dull grey tones) and death
(bright cheery colors) showing that people have
more fun when they’re dead and don’t have to
care about anything. Also in that movie there is a
butterfly that can be seen throughout the film, the
same butterfly that Emily turns into. Butterflies
can mean a number of things like rebirth or love
or transition but in this movie it means that Emily
is finally free. That she let
go of the pain she held and
transformed into something
beautiful and free.
Mystery in Shadows
There is definitely a mystery
effect to quite a lot of his
films. He uses harsh lighting
to create bold shadows in
order to create a feeling
of suspense. This feeling make the view-
er wonder what will happen next, hence
creating mystery. This can be seen in pretty
much every single one of his movies.
Twisted Humor
This is another thing Mr. Burton is quite
the fan of and uses it in quite a few of his
movies. In his film Beetlejuice, he changed
the face of horror comedy. His “cheap” effects made the
twisted world of Beetlejuice something to laugh at instead
of focusing on how strange of an idea it truly is.
The Outcast
Another favorite of Mr. Burton that can be seen quite often
in his movies. The skittish outcast that is either the main
character or sidekick to the main character. I mean just
take a look at Edward from Edward Scissorhands, Willy
Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Barnabas
Collins from Dark Shadows, and many, many more. They
are all skittish outcasts that are fan favorites. They tend to
keep to themselves, do not know how to socialize, or just
seem downright strange.
Monsters
Things that go bump in the night. Creepy crawlers, skel-
etons, ghosts, you name it and you’ve got it. Mr. Burton
is notorious for his monsters of the night such as Oogie
Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Head-
less Horseman from Sleepy Hollow, the Jabberwocky from
Alice in Wonderland, and the Sand Worm from Beetlejuice.
Mr. Burton does love his monsters and you can bet you will
see them in his movies.
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